Page 41 - Attractive Deception - The False Hope of the Hebrew Roots Movement

a thief, a slaughterer, or a circumciser. Rabbah said: I was born under Mars. Abaye retorted: You
too inflict punishment and kill. It was stated. R. Hanina said: The planetary influence gives wisdom,
the planetary influence gives wealth, and Israel stands under planetary influence.

This Talmudic entry sounds very much like Babylonian astrology, looking to the hour and day of
one’s birth to forecast what a person’s life and character will be. It can hardly be coincidental that
Mercury is mentioned as the Sun’s scribe, and the Romans held Mercury to be the messenger of the
gods. There is clear evidence of idolatrous influences in the opinions of the rabbis which are
recorded in the Talmud, and Midrash. This influence is even more pronounced in the Kabbalistic
writings of the Jews. The primary document of Kabbalistic teaching, The Zohar, makes the following
comment regarding the candlestick in the Jewish Temple: "These lamps, like the planets above,
receive their light from the sun."

Modern Freemasonry is derived from Kabbalah. We can therefore look to the writings of
Freemasonry to discern what the Jewish mystics believed about the planets and their relationship to
the golden candlestick, or menorah, that Moses commanded to be built. Frank C. Higgins in his book
The Beginning of Masonry, published in 1916, writes the following regarding the Jewish seven-
branched candlestick (the illustration is taken from his book):

Thus the seven planets were the seven old gods of the Babylonians, - Shamash, the Sun; Sin, the
Moon; Nebo, Mercury; Ishtar, Venus; Nergal, Mars; Marduk, Jupiter; and Ea, Saturn.

The Jewish seven-branched candlestick and its symbolism.

From left to right, the seven flames correspond to the following planets:

Saturn-Jupiter-Mars-the Sun-Venus-Mercury-the Moon

According to Talmudic dogma, it is forbidden for anyone to construct a seven-flame candlestick of
the same pattern delivered to Moses. Consequently, any menorah that a Jew possesses in their home,
in a synagogue, or any other public or private place, must have fewer than, or more than, seven
lights. The Hanukiah abides by this stricture, as it possesses nine lights.

Did you note that Frank Higgins stated that the central flame, that which corresponds to the Sun, is
called by the Babylonians “Shamash”? This is the same name the Jews give to the central candle on